Key Lime Pie
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Bright, tangy, and ultra-creamy, this key lime pie has just the right balance of sweet and tart—perfect for warm days and easy entertaining.
I’ve been making this Key lime pie for years, and it’s one of my favorite desserts to serve when the weather warms up. Inspired by the classic pie made famous in the Florida Keys, it has a buttery graham cracker crust and a cool, creamy filling that’s the perfect balance of sweet and tart. Best of all, it’s easy to make with just a handful of ingredients—you can use regular limes from the grocery store, and Greek yogurt stands in for the usual egg yolks (trust me, it works). I’ve served this pie everywhere from summer barbecues to holiday dinners, and it’s always a crowd-pleaser.
“The best key lime pie I’ve ever had!! Tart, sweet, fresh but rich.”
Do You Really Need Key Limes?
Despite the name, you don’t need Key limes to make an outstanding Key lime pie. Over the years, I’ve made this pie with bottled Key lime juice (such as Nellie & Joe’s), fresh Key limes, and regular limes (also called Persian limes), and I actually prefer regular limes. They’re easy to find year-round and have a bright, fresh flavor that makes an exceptional pie. If you have access to fresh Key limes, though, they’re delicious too, lending the pie a slightly more floral, aromatic flavor.
What You’ll Need To Make Key Lime Pie
For the crust, you’ll need finely crushed graham cracker crumbs, light brown sugar, and melted butter. For the filling, you’ll need sweetened condensed milk, Greek yogurt, fresh lime juice and lime zest. For the topping, you’ll need heavy cream and confectioners’ sugar.
You’ll notice this recipe doesn’t call for egg yolks, like many traditional Key lime pie recipes. After testing it both ways, I found they simply weren’t necessary. The pie sets beautifully because the lime juice’s acidity reacts with the proteins in the yogurt and sweetened condensed milk, thickening the filling as it bakes (the same basic reaction that turns milk into cheese). And from a taste standpoint, I actually prefer the cleaner, brighter lime flavor that comes from leaving the yolks out. As a bonus, there’s no separating eggs, making the recipe even easier to prepare.
“Outstanding! Sets up beautifully and has the most perfect lime flavor.”
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Mix the crust. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, and melted butter, stirring first with a fork, then finishing with your hands until the mixture looks like damp sand and holds together when you squeeze a bit in your palm.
Step 2: Press the crust into the pan. Work the crumbs up the sides of the pan first, then press the bottom—it’s easier this way. Press firmly; a loosely packed crust tends to crumble when you slice the pie later.
Step 3: Blind bake. Bake just until the edges turn a shade darker and it smells toasty. This short bake deepens the flavor of the crust and keeps the crust from turning soggy once the filling goes in, but it doesn’t need to brown deeply.
Step 4: Zest, then juice. Zest every lime you plan to juice before you cut into them—it’s nearly impossible to zest a lime once it’s been squeezed. A rasp grater makes this fast; a reamer or your hands work fine for juicing.
Step 5: Whisk the filling. Whisk the condensed milk, yogurt, zest, and juice together until completely smooth. The mixture will look thick, almost like a pudding.
Step 6: Bake and chill. Pour the filling into the warm crust and bake until the center looks just set. Let it cool for a bit on the counter, then pop it in the fridge for at least 3 hours to set completely. It’ll firm up further as it cools and chills.
Step 7: Whip the cream. Beat the heavy cream until it just starts to hold soft peaks, then add the confectioners’ sugar and continue beating until it’s thick enough to hold its shape when you lift the whisk. Don’t take it too far past this point—overwhipped cream turns grainy and starts to look more like butter than a topping.
Pro Tip: A hand whisk works fine here too if you don’t feel like pulling out the mixer—it just takes a bit more elbow grease.
Step 8: Top and serve. Top with the whipped cream shortly before serving rather than hours ahead, since cream loses its shape sitting on a cold pie for too long. A knife wiped clean between cuts will give you the neatest slices.
Key Lime Pie Video Tutorial
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Key Lime Pie
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 1½ cups finely crushed graham cracker crumbs, from about 12 whole graham crackers
- ⅓ cup (packed) light brown sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For the Filling
- Two 14-oz cans sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt (2% or whole milk)
- 1 tablespoon grated lime zest
- ¾ cup fresh lime juice
For the Topping
- 1 cup cold heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
- 1 teaspoon grated lime zest
- 8 to 10 thin lime slices
Instructions
- Make the Crust: Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C) and set an oven rack in the middle position.
- In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, and melted butter; stir with a fork first, and then your hands until the mixture is well combined. Using your fingers and the bottom of a glass or dry measuring cup, press the crumbs firmly into the bottom and up the sides of a 9 x 1½-in (23 x 4-cm) pie pan. The crust should be about ¼-in (6-mm) thick. (Tip: do the sides first.)
- Bake for 10 minutes, until just slightly browned. Let the crust cool on a wire rack.
- Make the Filling: Lower the oven temperature to 350°F (180°C). In a large bowl, whisk together the sweetened condensed milk, yogurt, lime zest, and lime juice. Pour the thick mixture into the warm graham cracker crust. Bake for 15 minutes, until the filling is almost set; it should wobble a bit. Let cool at room temperature for 30 minutes, then place in the refrigerator to chill thoroughly, about 3 hours.
- Make the Topping: In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the heavy cream until soft peaks form. Add the confectioners’ sugar and beat until medium peaks form. Top the pie with the whipped cream. Decorate with the lime zest and lime slices. Store the pie in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Slice the pie into wedges, wiping your knife clean between slices, and serve cold.
Notes
- Make-Ahead Instructions: You can make the crust a day ahead of time, but the filling should be added on the day of serving, otherwise the crust will get soggy.
- The nutritional information was calculated using 2% Greek yogurt.
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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First time making Key Lime. I made in for the 4th it’s an amazing recipe and everyone loved it . Great recipe! Will totally make this again ❤️❤️❤️
Great recipe! Thanks! Next time I may try using Greek LIME yogurt if I can find it. I also used store bought Pecan pie crust, a little texture.
Made this for a small Fourth of July picnic and it was delicious. It got rave reviews and my husband even said it’s is the best key lime pie he has ever had! I will definitely be making this again. Thank you!
Can i use plain whole milk yogurt instead of greek yogurt?
Hi Cathy, Yes, just strain it because it’s not as thick. Sour cream would also be a fine substitute with no straining.
I have made this several times and it is really good; however, I have one consistent issue. The crust. I can never get the crust to fully pack down and it ends up being very crumbly when trying to eat it. How can I get the crust to stick together better and pack down firmly? Does it need more butter?
Hi Stephanie, I’m sorry you’ve consistently had a problem with the crust! Yes, I’d add another tablespoon or so of butter. That should help it bind better.
I used store bought already made graham cracker crust and it turned out great.
Can I use non fat greek yogurt?
Alicia, non-fat yogurt will work — the filling just won’t be as rich.
So easy and absolutely delicious. The perfect summertime dessert! I will absolutely be making this again. Follow the recipe exactly and you can’t go wrong.
Made this with my neighbor’s 12 year old son…it is his favorite dessert! Followed the recipe exactly, except for using Biscoff for a crust And sour cream for the yogurt (both had been hanging around the kitchen waiting to be used up:). He did all of the work while I just read the recipe aloud to him. Sent him home with the pie, whipping cream, zest and confectioners sugar. Just got this message from him…”the best pie EVER,”. Thank you for the recipe for a fun morning for this 70 year old and her sweet neighbor:)
❤️
I made this to bring to a BBQ and per usual, made 1.5x the recipe so to make extra in cupcakes as testers/dessert at home. This was a BIG hit at the party, and the day after I am eating a extra cupcake version and it’s even better after sitting in the fridge.
A few minor tweaks:
– Increase the crust
– Decrease the filling. For 1.5x the recipe, I made a pie + 6 cupcakes. I could get away with 1x filling.
– For the filling, double the lime juice.
– Increase the topping, the cream really balances the flavor/texture of the pie as a whole.
Definitely a repeat recipe. Thank you!
Well Jen, you’ve done it again. Ive always wanted to like key lime pie.. especially being from FL but it just never seems right. Well someone in my circle said they love key lime pie so I figured I’d try to make them one. Found your recipe and having used a few before felt it was a good start for me. I read through the other comments and decided to use a premade graham cracker crust… Because I’m lazy.. 2c plain Greek yogurt to cut the sweetness, upped the lime zest to however much came, it was for sure more than the tbs spoon, off my 10 limes. I zested another lime.on top of the whipped cream And I love it, it’s smooth and creamy, not toothache sweet and it was so easy. I can’t wait to make this for others! I may do this in a rectangular baking (9×11)dish to share with more people.
Made this for the first time yesterday for a friend; KLP is her favorite. I used Keebler premade crusts and added one extra Tbs. of confectioners sugar in the topping. It was for a birthday and it turned out great. Very tasty and just the right amount of lime flavor. I’m probably bragging a bit, but I think it was as good as any key lime pie I’ve ever eaten. She thought the same. Outside of juicing a bunch of limes, this is a simple pie to make. Highly recommend this recipe to pie lovers everywhere. Thank you for sharing this.
Rick in Indiana
Did you bake the crust before adding the filling?